Leadership
Building chemistry
How Bill Mays formulated a team environment at Mays Chemical Co. by taking the time to listen
By Mark Scott
Smart Business Indianapolis | May 2008
Page 1 of 4
Bill Mays was confident he had the necessary skills to be a successful business owner. And when he founded Mays Chemical Co.
Inc. in March 1980, his wife, Rose, was standing right there beside
him to offer her support.
But it’s the ability to garner support from the people that you
want to work for you and the community that you call home that
can make the difference between success and failure.
“You reach out, and you take a chance,” says Mays, who serves
as chairman, president and CEO. “It’s selling yourself and selling
your company and selling what someone wants to buy.”
It’s also making clear that just because you started the company
and hold the top position in the organization, you were not blessed
with all the right answers to make it work.
“I want to listen to your thoughts and ideas and discuss these,”
Mays says. “I want other managers to listen and pay attention.
Employees respect that. We don’t have all the answers. We’ve
been reasonably successful, but that doesn’t mean that there
aren’t some ideas or some ways in which things can be done better. You have to keep the dialogue open.”
For example, it was through this open communication that
Mays learned that many of his employees did not carry life
insurance outside the company.
“We said one of the things we’ll do is raise the minimum level
of insurance so that it’s three times salary up to some amount
so at least the family of these employees know this is a benefit
they can get if they ever should have to use it,” Mays says. “It’s
a two-way street. You have to look out for employees just like
they are looking out for the company. They have to see some
benefit to going the extra mile versus, ‘It’s just a job, and I’m
working from 8 to 5.”
This philosophy of collaborative leadership has helped Mays
Chemical grow from a one-man operation that hit $1 million in
sales in its first year to $100 million in sales in 1995 and $165
million in 2007. The 167-employee specialty chemical company
serves customers in the food, pharmaceutical, beverage and
automotive industries.
While generating money is obviously a primary goal to grow
the business, it’s just as important that you continue to hone
your skills for attracting and retaining excellent employees.
“You develop a reputation that treats employees fairly, gives
them opportunities and compensates them in a reasonable
fashion,” Mays says. “We’re not going to put the Fortune 100 out
of business. But we can, as a small business, certainly provide
an atmosphere where employees feel wanted and empowered.”
